I know of two explanations
for the Cheshire cat grin that Doug Ford (right) wears as constantly as
he does suspenders. First, he regularly gets to fish for salmon in his
beloved native Oregon waters just the way he likes, by himself. Second,
he’s convinced that he’s designed “the world’s best-performing
autopilot.” Ford and his colleagues at Nautamatic Marine Systems
are not shy about that bold claim; they even publish a brochure with page
after page of detailed comparisons to the big brands in the field, and
they offer a full money-back guarantee.

The TR-1 Gladiator certainly
is different. For starters, it’s missing two components common to
just about every other autopilot on the market. Instead of a fixed control
head with an LCD display of rudder angle, desired course, actual course,
etc. (like the Furuno NavPilot shown below, for instance), the TR-1 has
only the wired remote and can’t display rudder angle anyway because
it lacks the necessary feedback sensor. What, no rudder-angle sensor?
Marine electronics gospel saith that an autopilot must have two data streams—heading
and rudder position—to be tuned for a particular boat’s steering
habits and to steer a straight course in variable conditions. Most will
also make smart use of boat speed gathered from a GPS or paddle wheel,
but that’s optional; again, the TR-1 is odd in requiring engine tachometer
input. (It also only works with hydraulic steering systems.)

A rudder sensor is an
electro-mechanical device stuck in a remote, unfriendly area of a boat.
It’s a pain to install and subject to comparatively high failure
rates, so not having one is definitely a good thing. But how does the
TR-1 work without it? That’s the subject of speculation and skepticism
among other autopilot manufacturers. One competitor told me that the TR-1
constantly “hunts,” making tiny rudder adjustments just to check
itself, which causes extra wear and tear on the equipment; another says
that the TR-1 somehow gets rudder angle by tracking the electromagnetic
field generated by the hydraulic pump motor, a technique that is ultimately
unreliable. I doubt that anyone outside Nautamatic knows for sure how
the thing actually works (yet), and Ford is not telling. He just says
that his technology is “PFM” (Pure *%$#*$% Magic) and grins.

Ford will talk about
how he got here. He really is a rocket scientist or, more specifically,
a mechanical engineer who developed rocket-guidance systems for Boeing
Aerospace. He also worked on holographic heads-up displays for pilots
and ultra-micro automation used to fix defective silicon processors. But
he gave that all up ten years ago to start Nautamatic with the goal of
building an autopilot that would let him and his buddies effectively slow-troll
for salmon without a mate. The result was the TR-1 Gold model, apparently
able to fully manage the kicker outboards used in that fishery, even controlling
throttle and transmission. Today Ford’s company dominates this niche
market.

Still, Nautamatic is
an unknown brand in the pleasureboat market, and competitors would not
be particularly interested in its general-purpose Gladiator model, with
or without rudder sensor, if it didn’t also perform in noteworthy
ways. It does. It’s the only autopilot I know of that will steer
in reverse, and it also seems to work well at very low speeds. The unit
is even able to hold position in a current. It is capable of all sorts
of programmed maneuvers, visible on the controller on page 60, many of
them customizable. All this is particularly attractive to fishermen but
also useful in a man-overboard situation, while waiting for a bridge to
open, and probably in many ways we can’t think of yet.